Legal Talk

The Hoarding Police by Legal Talk

If you think your board of directors is not paying attention to what the ordinary joe apartment owner thinks is important, it’s time to get their attention. There are lots of ways to do that, and organizing a special meeting is one of them. Marc Schneider of Schneider Mitola and Elliott Meisel of Brill & Meisel offer some down-to-earth advice on this powerful option.

Selling an apartment is a huge undertaking, and lots of money changes hands. One hand that is often outstretched is that of the co-op being left. Depending on what a co-op’s governing documents say, a transfer or flip tax might be collected. For the seller, now flush with cash, that fee provides welcome revenue to a co-op’s coffers. But for the co-op corporation that doesn’t have a flip tax, it’s a missed opportunity. Listen as Norman Himmelfarb, of Himmelfarb & Sher, and Andrew Brucker, of Schechter and Brucker, lay out what’s needed to make the flip happen. Featuring the song “Jazz’n’Out” from the album Jazzafari Bea Tape Vol. 1, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.

Boards make all kinds of decisions, and most of the time it’s pretty clear what is legal and what is not. But some activities cross into the gray zone – not really illegal, but not a good place to be, either. Dennis Greenstein of Seyfarth Shaw and Marc Landis of Phillips Nizer mark the boundaries of this zone and come up with the ultimate solution to avoiding it.

In every co-op or condo, there is a go-to guy. He’s the super. These men, and yes, they are mostly men, work for your building, are covered by your building’s insurance policy, and are on your building's payroll. They take care of everything in your building. The one thing they are not paid to do, though, is to fix stuff in your apartment. But they do. And for co-ops and condos, that can be a problem. Dean Roberts of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus, and Phyllis Weisberg of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, offer advice on what to do. Featuring the song “Lose the Box” from the album Swing Soiree by Ménage Quad, licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0.

Mark Gauthier’s ten unit co-op is steeped in history. It’s in the Jackson Heights’ historic district, it was built in 1922, and it still uses the original set of bylaws. That’s right. Their bylaws are 92 years old. Seems like it’s time for an update. Listen as David Berkey, partner at Gallet Dreyer and Berkey, and Joel Miller, of the law firm Miller and Miller, lay out the what’s needed and why, and what it might cost. Featuring the song “History Repeats” from the album The Simple Life by Josh Woodward, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

Okay, let’s be honest: some people are born to whine and complain. And sure enough, some of these people end up buying apartments and they morph into complaining neighbors. If you’re a board member on the other side of this complaint litany, you can just go crazy. Don’t do that. Instead, listen to Habitat’s legal experts calmly, and clearly, tell you what to do. Listen as Matthew Leeds, partner at Ganfer & Shore, and Pierre Debbas of Romer Debbas offer advice to weary board directors dealing with squeaky wheels. Featuring the song “Failure” from the album netBloc Vol. 41: Brought to you by the numerals 4 and 1 by Derek Clegg, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

What happens when someone on your board is governing for personal gain? Lots, that’s what. Sometimes money gets spent when it shouldn’t; decisions are made that are wonky; and those who suspect something's up get intimidated. Listen as Ken Jacobs, partner at Smith, Buss and Jacobs, and Stuart Halper of Stuart Halper & Associates offer advice to a former board director on steps to take when something smells. Featuring the song “Bad Scene” from the album Grit by Podington Bear licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

In Brooklyn, there is a 16-unit condominium with an access problem. The cable box for the entire building is in the back of the condo, and to get to it you have to go through one of the two ground-floor apartments. Problem is, when there’s cable trouble, there’s no super and no doorman. And the ground-floor owner isn’t always around to open the door for the repairman so he can get to the cable box. Listen as Seth Sahr, partner at Novitt, Sahr & Snow, and Robert Tierman, partner at Litwin & Tierman, help this board president figure out what to do. Featuring the song “Banging on My Door,” by Waylon Thornton, from the album Paranormal High School licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US.

This is a saga of too few parking spaces, a co-op board vote to raise the monthly garage fees, a president who ignored the vote and a board member who resigned over the whole affair. Listen as Stuart Saft, partner at Holland & Knight, and Scott Greenspun, partner at Braverman Greenspun, discuss where is the right, and where is the wrong. Featuring the song “Parking Lots And Strip Malls,” by David Rovics, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

In the beginning, the corporation that we know as a co-op or condo was created by a sponsor. And the sponsor said, let there be community life. He saw all that he made, he saw that it was very good, and he decided - well, he decided that maybe he would stick around. At least he did at Rhona Magilowitz’s co-op in Forest Hills, Queens. Listen as Eric Goidel, partner at Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Nahins & Goidel, and Lewis Montana, partner at Levine & Montana, offer some advice on how to work the situation. Music by Les Petits Chanteurs de Montigny, Creative Commons license.

There is a group of shareholders out in Queens that is fed up with its board. In fact, it is trying to organize a coup. But because the shareholders are basically law-abiding citizens, they’re not taking to the hallways - they’re calling their co-op’s attorney. They want to find out what they should do to get elected at the upcoming annual meeting. Listen as Theresa Racht, partner at Racht & Taffae, and Dale Degenshein, special counsel at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan, give them some unexpected advice.

You’ve got a lot of decisions to make as a board director, and any one of them could be your downfall. Out in Queens, a condo board president is trying to figure out his next step. He’s juggling years of leaks, an engineering report calling for half a million dollars’ worth of work, a reserve fund that is almost empty, a small group of thirty unit-owners to foot the bill, and a whole lot of dissension. Listen as Ron Gold, partner at Kagan Lubic Lepper Finkelstein & Gold, and Michael Manzi, partner at Balber Pickard Maldonado & Van Der Tuin, offer advice.

Talk about trust gone awry. There’s a large co-op on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that woke up to a huge problem. Seems their full-time super, under the instruction of their property management company, was working at several other properties - but on their dime and time! The board is furious and ready to - well, ready to what? Listen as attorneys Steven Sladkus, a partner at Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, and Stewart Wurtzel, partner at Tane Waterman & Wurtzel, offer strategic next steps.

How do you get your board to tackle the issue of smoking? Persistence, with a dose of shareholder muscle, that’s how. Phil Konigsburg, a long-time board director in Queens, faces this problem. He’s surveyed the residents, brought the matter up with his board colleagues, but so far - nada. Listen as attorneys Steven Wagner, principal at Porzio, Bromberg and Newman, and Steve Lasser, partner at Barton LLP, advise Phil on how to effectively organize shareholders and move the board to action.

Chances are that your neighborhood will change, and new buildings will rise. So what else is knew? Well, if it takes place next door to your co-op or condo, there’s stuff you need to do - and quick. Listen as two attorneys, C. Jaye Berger and Richard Klein, both solo practitioners in their eponymous New York law firms, advise a Brooklyn board president on steps to take when the adjacent parking lot is no longer for parking, but is awaiting construction.

The economic life in most co-op buildings ticks along in a pretty ho-hum manner. That is, until the board of directors wants to do something out of the ordinary. Such is the case in Tom Bettridge’s Brooklyn co-op, where the board wants to morph their current administrative fee into a real flip tax. But can they muster enough votes to do so? Listen as Bruce Cholst, a partner in Rosen Livingston and Cholst, and Arthur Weinstein, a solo practitioner in New York, advise Tom on ways to overcome shareholder apathy and how to come to terms with that fundamental democratic issue of whose ox is being gored.

What do you do when a roommate is making others uncomfortable? That is what’s going on at 75 West 238th Street in the Bronx, and Kennita Anderson, the property manager from Robert E. Hill who oversees the co-op, is asking for advice. Listen as Robert Braverman, a partner in Braverman Greenspun, and Dale Degenshein, special counsel in the real estate department of Stroock Stroock & Lavan, help Ms Anderson figure out who the real culprit is and how to deal with the problem.

Norma Bellino’s board at a 420-unit Manhattan co-op is dealing with a crafty serial subletter. It has fined the shareholder, but it seems his subletting business is too good to be thwarted by a monetary slap. What should the board do next? Phyllis Weisberg, a partner in Montgomery, McCracken, Walker & Rhoads, and Seth Sahr, a partner in Novitt, Sahr & Snow, team up to offer some strategies to undercut the subletter’s mini-business, ending it once and for all.

Condo amenities are great – there are gyms, pools, tennis courts, playrooms, and roof decks, and they all add to the value of apartments. But there’s a dark underbelly to all this glitz: when owners fall behind on monthly common charges, they stand to lose access to these goodies. That is the case at a Long Island condo, and the board is wondering if it can cut off the delinquents at the amenity pass. Listen as Theresa Racht, partner at Racht & Taffae, and Steve Wagner, principal at Porzio, Bromberg and Newman, untangle the problem for the managers.

After slogging through years of a quiet real estate market, many co-op coffers are once again being replenished by the flip tax, a dollar figure that is attached to the sale of an apartment and unique to each co-op corporation. But what if your co-op has one that seems out of sync with today’s apartment values?

Suddenly the fire engines pull up in front of your building. Smoke permeates the hallways. The firemen are pulling their equipment in through the lobby, and now they are breaking down the door to Apt. 5. Water is gushing out of the hoses, and the fire has been doused. But so has Apt. 5, along with the destruction of its front door. With one emergency behind you, another event emerges: the co-op’s insurance deductible is half the cost of repair. How can the co-op recover the shortfall? Listen as Matthew Leeds, partner at Ganfer and Shore and Adam Leitman Baily, owner of the eponymous firm, advise Ron Sinclair, property manager at a New Rochelle co-op, on how to proceed.

You got elected to your co-op board as a reformer. Your platform was transparency for all, and no self-dealing for the board. Trouble is, the board wants you to sign a statement saying that you will not disclose confidential information to the shareholders. What should you do? Listen as Art Weinstein, principal of his own firm, and Steve Troup, partner at Tarter, Krinsky and Drogan, advise this budding whistle-blower on what’s right, what’s legal, and what’s at stake.

So you’ve fallen in love with an apartment. It’s just the right size, it has nice light, the kitchen is in good shape, and when you look out the bedroom window you see the tops of some trees. You’re ready to put in an offer. Stop. Remember, you’re buying more than an apartment – you’re investing in a corporation. You need to see if it’s in good shape. To do that, you’ll want to read the minutes. Today’s episode of Legal Talk explores who can read the minutes and who can’t, with C. Jaye Berger, principal of the Law Offices of C. Jaye Berger, and Eric Frizzel, partner in the law firm of Buckalew Frizzell & Crevina, offering guidance.

What follows is a question about washing machines in apartments. Well, not washing machines per se, but house rules that regulate whether an owner can have a washing machine in his or her apartment. And to complicate matters, the house rule has been in effect at this Queens co-op for years but never enforced – until now, that is. Today’s episode of Legal Talk, with Norman Himmelfarb, partner in Himmelfarb & Sher, and Marc Landis, chair of the Real Estate and Co-op Condo practice at Phillips Nizer, hangs the house rule question out to dry.

The buying and selling of New York apartments is one of the hottest topics today. Everyone’s talking about prices, availability, and of course, admissions. In some co-ops and condos, brokers do more than sell apartments - they also serve on the board of directors. And that’s when conflicts can arise. On today’s episode of Legal Talk, attorneys David Berkey of Gallet Dreyer and Berkey and Andrew Brucker of Schecter and Brucker join in to answer Queens board president Steve Miller’s question about how to deal with “two hat broker” problem.

In 1997, a federal jury found that the board of the Beekman Hill House co-op had illegally discriminated against an interracial couple. The couple was awarded $640,000 in damages. Of this, board president Nick Biondi was personally liable for $125,000 in punitive damages. Every few years, that case, and others like it, sends fear throughout the community. Today’s episode of Legal Talk – with Dean Roberts, partner in Norris McLaughlin & Marcus and Stuart Wurtzel, partner in Tane, Waterman & Wurtzel – explores how board members can protect themselves from this kind of financial disaster.

It can be found almost everywhere, and most of it won’t harm you. But when it’s found in an apartment, it means water has leaked into the building or is coming from somewhere inside. Who is responsible for the clean-up? On today's episode of Legal Talk, attorneys Marc Schneider, partner in Schneider Mitola, and Richard Klein, a solo practitioner in Manhattan, discuss the many issues that mold causes.

If you sit on your condo board and think you aren’t required to take minutes of board meetings - you could be right. But right doesn’t equal smart, and there are many reasons why this isn’t a good practice. On today’s episode of Legal Talk, attorneys Steven Sladkus, partner at Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz, and Pierre Debbas, partner at Romer Debbas, explain what’s right - and smart.

Anyone who claims Second Amendment rights will allow them to store guns or ammunition in their co-op or condo apartment has got it all wrong. Further, a co-op could turn down a potential buyer because he or she owns a gun. On this episode of Legal Talk, attorneys Peter Zlotnick, partner at Kagan Lubic Lepper Finkelstein & Gold, and Stuart Saft, partner at Holland & Knight, explain just what a board can, and can’t, do about guns in their buildings.

If you live in a New York apartment, there’s a good chance you have been bothered by one of two things – noise or smell. Either one of these two can wreak havoc on your life. Out in Westchester, a board and their property manager have been dealing with this issue at their 350-unit building. And for them, it’s even more complicated because the noise is caused by a young child with serious developmental problems. On today’s episode of Legal Talk, attorneys Ken Jacobs, of Smith, Buss and Jacobs, and John LaGumina, of The LaGumina Law Firm, join in to help the board figure out what steps it should take.

Parapets. Joints. Re-sealing. These are expensive fixes on most buildings, and you might be wondering how to bring down the cost. Hey, here’s an idea. Why not just hire the company who can fix it? On today’s episode of Legal Talk, attorneys Geoffrey Mazel, of Hankin and Mazel, and Elliott Meisel, of Brill and Meisel, join in to help Queens board president Bill Kirrane figure out whether this is a good, or bad, idea.

Co-op and condo boards can rely on their management firms for a lot. After all, they’re the pros: they know the laws, the critical deadlines, the principles and practices of good corporate governance. But sometimes – whether through malice, negligence, or just an honest mistake – they screw up, and the consequences of that screw-up can be devastating to a board. The management contract may offer boards some recourse, and in this episide of Legal Talk, attorneys Jim Glatthaar of Bleakley Platt & Schmidt and Dennis Greenstein of Seyfarth Shaw join Habitat Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Carol J. Ott to explore a board’s options for repairing the damage – and maybe even the relationship with its management firm.

Ron is trying to sell his co-op unit. His buyer won’t commit unless the deal includes roof rights. Ron doesn’t own the rights – and he’s not sure who does – so where does he even begin? It may sound hopeless, but this sale is far from a lost cause, as you’ll learn in this episode of Habitat’s Legal Talk podcast.

The rules and laws governing roommates and sublets in co-op apartment buildings are an apparently limitless reservoir of confusion, complaints and consternation for boards. If the point of cooperative living is for the community to choose its members carefully, why are there so many loopholes in the approval process when it comes to sublets and roommates? In this episode, Manhattan board member Regina Warren brings our attorney panel a particularly knotty question: her board has the power to approve sublets, but if a subletter brings in a roommate, are they allowed to approve the roommate? To answer that, Habitat Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Carol J. Ott enlists attorneys Bruce Cholst of Rosen Livingston & Cholst and David Byrne of Herrick Feinstein to dig deep into the intricacies of New York’s “Roommate Law.”

You can do pretty much whatever you want within the four walls of your co-op or condo. But when it comes to public spaces, the corporation usually has rules about what's permissible. So when your neighbor flies the American flag from his balcony, and it's huge, it's not too surprising that the community protests. And then the board has to step in. On today's show we go deep into this patriotic issue to figure out what the board can do, and how it can do it, as Habitat Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Carol J. Ott talks with attorneys Lewis Montana of Levine & Montana and Ron Perl of Hill Wallack.

The prospect of updating the bylaws of a co-op or condo can be daunting – simultaneously mundane and overwhelming. In a co-op, bylaws mostly govern internal corporate matters, but in a condo they cover just about everything, from the organization of the condominium association to the powers of the board and the relationship between the residents and their board. So the question posed to our attorney panel this episode is: Where is a board to begin? Is there a template to follow? Well, no, unfortunately. But there are plenty of solid bedrock principles on how to approach this important job. It’s information board members need to know before they take on this crucial task. On the panel this week, Habitat publisher Carol J. Ott talks with Stuart Saft, a partner at Holland & Knight, and Matthew Leeds, a partner at Ganfer & Shore. Music: Gosprom, “San Francisco” (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Gosprom/20/Gosprom__20__12)

Too much subletting in a co-op can cause a whole host of problems, especially when it comes to finances. Buildings with low owner-occupancy rates often find themselves hit with lower property values and higher interest rates on their underlying mortgages. Fortunately, co-ops can write restrictions on subletting into their governing documents. But how do you do it? That’s the dilemma facing our attorney panel on the Habitat podcast. Our question comes from Yonkers shareholder Mike Pidel, who says that illegal subletting is even done by members of the board! What can he do to make them comply? On the panel this week, Habitat Publisher Carol J. Ott talks with Tara Snow, a partner at Novitt Sahr & Snow, and Al Taffae, a partner atf Racht & Taffae. Music: Dexter Britain, “The Lost Ones” (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Dexter_Britain/Creative_Commons_Selection/The_Lost_Ones)

Smoking is fast becoming outré in New York’s public spaces, and apartment buildings are getting in on the act as well. Concerned about the health effects of second-hand smoke, co-op and condo boards have begun taking steps to eradicate cigarette smoking from common areas and even private apartments. But this is a new trend and in many ways uncharted territory for boards. What’s the most effective way to put a ban on smoking in your building? That’s the question posed to our attorney panel this week. Can the ban apply to some residents while grandfathering other smokers in? How do you make sure the ban will stand up in court? And, perhaps most importantly, how do you enforce it? The laws on this subject are different for co-ops versus condos, and our attorney panel separates out the various strands of legal thought and opinion to bring you the clear truth. On the panel this week, Habitat Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Carol J. Ott talks with John J. LaGumina of The LaGumina Law Firm and Richard Klein of the Law Offices of Richard Klein. Music: Stevie’s Amp Shack, “Blues Shuffle in A One Take Improv Exercise” http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Stevies_Amp_Shack/~/Blues_Shuffle_in_A_One_Take_Improv_Exercise

In an ideal co-op, the trustworth superintendent has a key to every apartment, securely stowed in a lockbox and only to be used in cases of emergency. If that emergency strikes and the resident of the unit isn’t home to give building workers or first responders access to the apartment, the key comes out and the emergency services can proceed in an orderly fashion. But we all know that things are rarely so tidy. Locks get changed and shareholders, intentionally or not, often fail to leave a copy of the key with the building. And when emergency access is needed? Out comes the battering ram. That’s the situation faced by this episode’s board questioner, Marleen Levi of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. In her co-op, screams were heard emanating from a unit in the middle of the night, and when no one answered the door and the super didn’t have a key, the Fire Department started busting it down. Fixing the front door to an apartment is usually the co-op’s responsibility, but in this case, Levi asks, can the co-op forward the bill to the shareholder who should have given them access in the first place? Our attorney panel answers her question and looks at all the angles when it comes to access: when should the building have it, and who’s responsible when it doesn’t? On the panel this week: Rob Braverman of Braverman & Associates and Ronald Gold of Kagan Lubic Lepper Finkelstein & Gold. Music: Noi, “Everything is Changing” (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Noi/~/noi_-_everything_is_changin)

For a co-op, the proprietary lease is kind of like the Constitution: it sets the terms for everyone who enters your community, it’s hard to make changes to it, and people will be picking over its every detail for years to come. But like that famous document, eventually there comes a time where the proprietary lease needs to be brought up to date with present-day realities. That’s the subject of this week’s episode: what changes to make, how to go about enacting them, how to get your shareholders on board, and who to turn to for help. On our attorney panel, Habitat publisher Carol J. Ott talks with Steven Wagner of Wagner Davis and Jeffrey Reich of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz. Music: The Silent Partner, “Build Up” (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tha_Silent_Partner/Tha_Complete_Platters_Sessions_XE/03_-_Build_Up)

The chopping and sawing you are hearing is a noisy but necessary sound as more and more cooperatives and condominiums are facing altered states. The scenarIo is simple: as new, younger people move into older apartment buildings, they are paying more and expecting more. They want to upgrade kitchens, or bathrooms, or living rooms to bring them in line with their visions of home. That’s where alteration agreements, the subject of this podcast, come into play. We will be discussing how to create and implement them: from the advisors you need to consult to the legal protections you should include. This week, Habitat publisher Carol J. Ott talks with C. Jaye Berger, of the law offices of C. Jaye Berger, and Elliott Meisel, of Brill & Meisel.

A successful co-op or condo board knows when to trust the experts — and how to protect itself against a violation of that trust. A prime example of this tricky balancing act is putting a project out for bid. It’s a case study in the importance of collaborative decision-making and teamwork, as well as an easy target for an unethical vendor to take advantage of an unsuspecting board. Our question this week comes from a co-op board member who knows the dangers involved and has successfully navigated the waters with small-scale projects, but wants to know if there are additional projects his board should take with a million-dollar job on the horizon. In response, our attorney panel walks us through the competitive bidding process. Who should be involved, and when? What roles should the managing agent, engineer, attorney, and board play? And how does the board protect itself against cut corners and dirty dealings? On the panel this week: Marc Schneider of Schneider Mitola and Ron Perl of Hill Wallack. Music: Jazz at Mladost, “C-mol Blues” (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jazz_at_Mladost/Jazz_Night/C-mol_blues)

When you own an apartment, your home is not your castle – especially when it comes to matters of renovation and alteration. Alteration agreements restricting when and how apartment owners can have work done on their units are commonplace in co-ops and condos in New York. But if a condo unit-owner goes rogue and builds something unauthorized or even illegal in his or her unit, and the board turns a blind eye to the transgression, can a future board reassert its authority without getting in legal trouble? That’s the question posed to our panel this week. On this episode we cover the basics of alterations: how co-ops and condos can and should enforce their alteration agreements (or how to enact them if they aren’t already on the books), the dangers of unauthorized construction, and the best way a new board can lay down the law in areas where unit-owners are used to getting away with murder. On the panel this week: Alan Turek of Turek Roth Mester and Geoffrey Mazel of Hankin & Mazel. Music: Michael Chapman and the Woodpiles, “Goodwill Cowboys Ride Again” (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Michael_Chapman__The_Woodpiles/NATCH_7/05_Goodwill_Cowboys_Ride_Again)

When a co-op’s shareholders want access to the corporation’s financial records, are the documents an open book – or are they a secret diary? And what if the shareholder is a former board member? That’s the question posed to our attorney panel in today’s episode. It’s a must-listen for both board watchdogs and the boards they watch. It’s a seemingly simple question that raises a surprising number of issues. How much information do shareholders have the right to, and how much transparency is in the best interest of the corporation? And there are rules about what documents the board has to release, but are there rules about what information those documents have to contain? It’s a tricky subject with a lot of gray areas, and our panelists break it all down. On the panel this week: Eric Goidel of Borah, Goldstein, Altschuler, Nahins & Goidel and Howard Schechter of Schechter & Brucker.

Can an apartment be your primary residence, even if you haven’t lived there for two years? That’s the question Patricia Ingao, a board vice president at a Brooklyn co-op, is asking in this episode. Her board is grappling with a complicated and touchy situation involving an elderly rent-stabilized tenant in a nursing home, the son who’s been paying her rent, and the the tax break the co-op has been receiving in exchange for keeping her rent low. Unfortunately, according to our attorney panel, case law on these matters is anything but clear cut. The panel covers the intersecting questions of how the co-op’s property taxes may be affected, how to determine whether the tenant will ever really return to the apartment, whether the tenant’s rights may be passed along to her son, and how to balance the desire to be a good neighbor with the co-op’s financial realities. On the panel this week: Phyllis Weisberg of Montgomery McCracken Kurzman Karelsen and Kenneth Jacobs of Smith, Buss & Jacobs. Music for this episode by Jahzaar, from freemusicarchive.org.

Your co-op board has the right to keep certain records in confidence – even from its fellow board members. But what if you aren’t confident that the board was duly elected in the first place? In this episode, Habitat’s attorney panel breaks down a complicated question from a New York co-op board member about who wins out in a battle between confidentiality and confidence – and how any prior board decisions are affected when an election is overturned. The podcast identifies all-too-common mistakes that boards make when certifying elections – and what you need to know to cope with the confidentiality/confidence dilemma. On this week’s panel this week: Marc Landis of Phillips Nizer and Dean Roberts of Norris McLaughlin & Marcus. Music for this episode by Broke for Free, from freemusicarchive.org.

What do you do with a condo board that is breaking all the rules – including the one that lets the unit-owners boot the bums out? Attorneys Pierre Debbas and Ari Weiss discuss the board recall process – and what to do when it goes wrong.

Sexual harassment between board members can disrupt the board’s ability to function, causing the entire co-op or condo to suffer. Attorneys Mitchell A. Dix and Lewis Montana discuss options for solving a harassment problem without causing a scandal.

Co-ops are always looking for new sources of revenue, and one board in Harlem has a novel idea: charging a roommate fee. Can they do it? Things get existential as attorneys Marcie Waterman Murray and Joel Miller ponder the question: what is a roommate?

After a failed shareholder uprising, three embattled co-op board members vote to reimburse themselves for legal fees. Is that legal? Attorneys Marc Luxemburg and Adam Leitman Bailey unpack the answer and takes a deep dive into the recall petition process.